The Boxing Greats From Brooklyn

It is estimated that there are well over two and a half million people living there as it stands, with the whole area being packed full of character and history. One thing that Brooklyn has always been well known for is professional sport. They currently have the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets and the NHL’s New York Islanders residing at the famous Barclays Center. When baseball was in its infancy, it was the sides that came from Brooklyn which dominated the scene; but there’s another sport Brooklyn is well known for, and that sport is boxing.

Over the years Brooklyn, New York has produced a lot of top boxers to grace the professional circuit, with many of them going on to be world champions in various weight divisions. Let’s take a look at just some of the famous names in boxing that have hailed from the borough over the years.

Mike Tyson

What can you say about Mike Tyson as a boxer? Iron Mike as he was known took the boxing world by storm, dispatching opponents with ease and at great speed with brutal knockouts. He is regarded as one of the best, still to this day and after winning and defending many world titles he ended his career with 50 wins and 44 knockouts from 58 bouts. In fact, both boxing fans and sports betting operators like Unibet, came to regard him as "a dead cert" for near enough all his matches!

Riddick Bowe

Riddick Bowe, or “Big Daddy” Bowe as he was commonly referred to as, competed at the 1988 Olympics representing the USA in boxing. He managed to pick up a silver medal before embarking on a professional career in the sport which would see him win 43 of 45 fights, drawing once. Bowe won and defended heavy weight titles and became the first man to ever stop Evander Holyfield.

Shannon Briggs

Shannon Briggs, known as The Cannon, is a heavyweight boxer who really can pack a punch. His boxing record stands up to scrutiny against even the best after winning 60 of 68 fights, over the course of a career that has spanned twenty years. In that time Briggs has become the lineal and world heavyweight champion on more than one occasion and is regarded as one of the best in the WBA heavyweight division still to this day, even at the age of 45.

Junior Jones

Junior Jones competed as a professional boxer for 13 years and in that time he became a two weight world champion at bantamweight and super bantamweight, he also incidentally held the IBO featherweight title too. Poison won 50 of his 56 bouts and was the first man to beat Marco Antonio Barrera. He won by DQ after Barrera’s team entered the ring after the Mexican was floored but Jones beat him again by UD in their next meeting a few months later.

Paulie Malignaggi

Malignaggi is a recently retired boxer hailing from Brooklyn who is well known for his TV work as well as his in the ring achievements. The former welterweight champion boxed for around 16 years and in that time became well known for his speed in the ring. He won various belts over the course of his career and ended with 36 wins from 44 fights.